This page gives a short overview of Alaska West, our world-class sportfishing lodge. There’s much more information about all these topics available on our web site – but this page and the links at the bottom are a great place to start.
Alaska West
Alaska West is located on the Kanektok River in Western Alaska. We fish for all five species of Pacific salmon, as well as rainbow trout, dolly varden and grayling. Our guests stay with us at the lodge each night and go fishing each day with two anglers per guide fishing out of 16 foot jet boats.
Getting to Alaska West means flying to Anchorage and then taking a charter flight that we run direct from Anchorage to the lodge.
Our Season
Our season runs from the second week of June through the end of August each summer. Our fishery is incredibly productive and is often referred to as a ‘fish factory’.
Most of our guests are interested in catching a variety of fish species – all season long there are trout, dolly varden and grayling available, and various salmon species as well. King salmon are available from the second week of June through end middle of July, and silver salmon are a target from late July through the end of August.
More on Our Fishing
Our fishing for silvers is extremely fast-paced and lots of fun for anglers of all backgrounds. Since we’re targeting them between 1 and 8 miles from the saltwater, they’re bright, very aggressive and fight hard – they’re known particularly for going airborne during a fight. We use floating lines and brightly-colored flies – streamers as well as surface patterns like poppers and pollywogs.
Our trout fishing is really consistent during the period that we’re open, with flesh, egg, sculpin and leech patterns all producing at various times. Our rivers are excellent places to fish giant dry flies that imitate mice and voles – ‘mousing’ is about as fun as it gets.
When fresh kings are in the river, we target them with swung flies, and often with two-handed rods. These fish are hot and bright, and they crush swung flies – this fishing is totally different from the upriver nymphing techniques used to target kings in many other parts of Alaska.
In late July, many of our guests like to pursue the Salmon Grand Slam – all five species of Pacific salmon, all on flies, all on the same day. We use a variety of fly fishing techniques when we’re going for the Grand Slam, and that’s a big part of the fun – lots of techniques, lots of fish, lots of different water.
Our Accommodations
We call our accommodations ‘comfortable but casual’. We pride ourselves on a very high level of service and on delivering a great experience during your stay, but we are not trying to be a ‘luxury lodge’. The atmosphere is relaxing and we’re not too worried about formalities.
Rates
Fishing at Alaska West costs either $6945 or $7295 per person for a 7 night / 6-day trip, depending on the week. We operate on a Sunday to Sunday schedule. Our price includes guided fishing, lodging, meals, loaner gear, and flies. Additional costs are travel to and overnight stay in Anchorage, round-trip charter to and from the river (estimated at $900), Alaska sport-fishing license, and gratuities for the staff.
More Information
King and Silver Salmon
Contacting Us
Just click here if you’d like to get in touch!